Political Correctness
Posted by Commentary
I don't think there's anything wrong with what you're doing -- except for dressing your son as a Sumo wrestler. Sumo wrestlers are a fixture of Japanese culture and if all of you were dressed in Chinese attire, someone of Chinese descent might get offended at you confusing their very different cultures.
I don't see anything wrong with your ideas at all, though. Chinese attire is very beautiful and it sounds like you've approached it very respectfully.
I'm interested in others' points of views on this topic. I had planned to dress my family (husband, two school-aged daughters, toddler son and myself) in Chinese costumes this year for an annual Halloween costume party. My husband and I purchased beautiful traditional Chinese outfits for our daughters the last time we traveled abroad. We also purchased my husband a silk jacket with a mandarin collar. I was going to purchase a traditional dress. I was then going to dress my toddler boy as a little sumo wrestler. When I told some of my friends about this over lunch, they were appalled and felt that I would surely offend anyone of Chinese heritage if they were also at the party. We do have some friends will be at the party who are Chinese. Have we overstepped the boundaries? Will our friends be offended?